New Season

2013 has to be better hasn't it?   As Mike has said we've had the wettest season in years.....but we are allotment holders and we are forever optimistic and 2013 will be a bumper year for us!  My new found enthusiasm knows no bounds and I even made the under gardener come up to the plot with me to do some weeding in the rain today! I sat at the table last night and looked at all the seeds I plan to grow and realised my 'eyes' are bigger than my plot, some serious pruning out needs to be done, problem is there are so many plants I want to grow!   I foresee many hours of agonising over which variety of carrot to grow, reading and re-reading their 'form' and discussions with the under gardener on how we can maximise the beds.......no doubt over a few glasses of our homemade gooseberry wine.  When I ask for another plot Mike please just keep saying NO...

 Well I have made start - sort of - I've washed the first of thousands of pots, a slight exaggeration maybe but it certainly feels like it - as the mountain remaining in our pot box isn't getting any smaller.  Remember the programme about a hoarder called Mr. Trebus?  Well I think I'm the female version!  

May have to recycle some pots up to the allotment as freebies later this month.....

Waiting list reduction

The tenancies are renewed annually every January and the fees are coming in slowly now Christmas is over but unlike the previous two seasons, the pattern is suprising us here at HQ. Since opening in 2010 and the initial take up of the virgin plots, it has proved quite hard for any new applicant to take advantage of any vacancy, they have been few and far between. The only plotters to depart have been those that have been requested to do so or anyone moving out of the locality.
This coming year there have been several terminations by members for various reasons but one has been that the 2012 growing season was so poor and the toil for another year was too much to take on for so little reward. This disappoints as in my experience in life not often can I recall a poor season has been followed by another although I can understand someone with limited time would be frustrated by their yield last year. Being the wettest year since records began in 1910 really proved to be the last straw for a few, tired of constant weeding and seeing their crops rot or not even have their seed rows germinate at all.
It has not been a problem to fill the vacant plots as the patient waiting list now has the door open to join our community at last and we are to hold a 'newbie' induction day next Saturday, 5th Jan. This entails listening to me for 10 mins about our dos and donts on site, issuing them with a 16 page information pack of all that they can enjoy from the area, a tenancy agreement, the rules and a gate entrance key. They are then shown their plot and once the fee is paid for the year, can get going whenever they want. The previous week, the vacating plots had been cleared of any debris left and a new plot No.sign made to give a good start to making a success of their new pastime.
Talking to other allotment site committee members, this seems to be the norm on other sites that those who are less committed (apart from other good reasons, poor health, etc) have decided enough is enough which is a shame considering the pleasure obtained from growing your own is so pleasing.
The pictures I will put on here asap, two are of soggy times on site this year and the third just a photo of a sunny day, a rare sight in 2012 but hopefully a common occurence in 2013. Optimism is important.

Cathy

Having the admin for a large allotment site isn't always as easy as it may seem, every day there is work in the background going on whether it be plot renewal forms to write and post, socials and group visits to organise or just plot changeovers, being amongst the numerous jobs. I am ably assisted by my lovely wife Ruth and whilst the 'job' is enjoyable most if the time, there are times when another train of thought or maybe just another person is needed that I can rely on to attend and assist at a function such as a garden club visit when the volume of visitors is more than I can focus on to get points across.

All of our committee are helpful and approachable when a second opinion, decision or a job needs doing, I wouldn't change any of them but if I am really stuck, Cathy is the lady who will put forward a sensible, fair opinion and plan for action usually without any prompt as she's spotted the problem already.
 
Considering the busy working life she leads, Cathy will make several visits to her plot each week but always has time for a friendly chat with anyone, having said that, there's no-one to talk to in the first picture below which looks as if she's got the whole 3 acre site to turn over on her own, she's seen clutching a hand trowel ready for action. This photo was taken by the National Trust the day we opened.

These frequent visits have paid off as she won, fair and square, the best full allotment this year, 2012 which was judged by 2 independent people. Cathy was delighted to receive the Viv Brock memorial cup engraved with her name (to be kept for one year) even if it was the first time Ruth and I have ever seen her blush with pride on the presentation. An engraved whisky glass to commemorate was given too, to be kept for ever.

The willow working course that was attended by Cathy was put to good use and when the judges inspected every plot early in July, the arch seen below impressed them as being one of the unique features on a 'different' and 'interesting' allotment. This shot was taken just after the creation of the arch and before the sweet peas took over.

Another photo below shows most of the committee with Hilda the boat who the day before this pic was replanted with spring bulbs and plants and looks a bit bare. From L - R is Dennis, Ruth,Sue,David,Glynis,Me,John,Sheila,Jim and Cathy. Missing from the picture are 3 more key committee members, Kevin, Billy and Neil.

I want to end this last blog of the year, from me anyway, by thanking not only Cathy for being there when I need her, the National Trust local team for their continued support and of course ALL of OUR team, each of them contributes something different to make this a heck of a brilliant, successful, award winning allotment site. Have I mentioned about the award before?

A HAPPY AND SUCCESSFUL GROWING SEASON 2013 TO YOU ALL !

Our Christmas tree in church

Every year our local church, St.Petrocs, hold a Christmas tree festival during which all the schools and other organisations are invited to attend various events such as carol services to admire the 85 lit and decorated trees.
These trees are sponsored by local businesses, groups, etc and are seen by hundreds of folk.
On behalf of our allotment association, an application was made for us to have a tree. Despite putting this in 6 weeks late we were accepted. This meant on the 3rd and 4th of December the tree had to be decorated with seasonal items that illustrated our cause, the supplied lights were draped around them and a carol had to be suggested for a competition for the children to guess which one it was.
We placed a wicker basket at the foot of the tree filled with veg that will last the festival without rotting and this will be checked every few days and replenished if necessary. Even a vole is poking out from the basket, these little vegetarians are the bane of our life on the plots.

I have put 3 pictures on to show what our tree looked like once we'd finished and I think to sponsor a pretty tree like this is a good way of saying thank you to our creator for giving us the opportunity to enjoy our favourite pastime in such a lovely environment.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL !

OUR CHRISTMAS MEAL

Our Christmas meal for 2012 was attended on the 1st December by 40 members who all contributed to making the evening a memorable one.

Preparations for this had been ongoing for several weeks as ill health, bad weather had made it difficult to keep the socials we all enjoy going during the summer months so we were determined to make this a good occasion.

The Callywith, a table-table restaurant in Bodmin, was our chosen venue and once they had received our booking decided to close the doors to other hungry diners for that night. Perhaps our reputation had gone before us or maybe it was because we are such a free spending crowd that the profit they needed to make that night was enough, either way it made it very personal to just us.

The tables were decked with crackers, poppers and with the subdued lighting looked superb and inviting. We all arrived with our partners dressed in our fineries settled down after being each issued with a Christmas card, a raffle ticket, a plot renewal form and a 2013 allotment event diary.

The staff excelled themselves all evening with great service, plentiful meals over 3 courses with minimal wait between each. All without exception praised the high standard of fayre, the quality and quantity of their meals. The free wine went down very well too.

Suitable reward was made to the staff via a table collection and the manager will be written to complimenting his employees.

As the last of the dessert was being polished off, the secretary made a short speech thanking all who had helped throughout the season, making a presentation to a couple who had made a difference and then announcing the winners of our own internal 'best allotment' competition. The successful plotholders were presented with their cups and awards.
The plots had been judged back in July but due to circumstances, presentations were held until tonight. 

As a final 'bit of entertainment' Ruth carried out her different draw to the norm whereby everyone went home with a Christmas bag containing a gift which pleased all seeing as it was a freebie.

Our locked facebook site was buzzing with talk and photos of the evening and a lot of positive comments were received by the organisers, yours truly and his wife, Ruth.  Job done I'm glad to say, just sorry that a few friends couldn't make the evening due to other commitments, but we'll do it all again next year so maybe next time.

A FITTING TRIBUTE

Since our success in winning the 'grow your own' category in the Cornwall in Bloom competition (have I mentioned that before?) the subject of what best to do with the prize money for the benefit of ALL members has been well mulled over.
It would be easy to just absorb the money into club funds which would gradually ebb away on petrol expenses or other consumables.
NO ! The committee and I feel it is essential to to use the funds towards a lasting tribute to our achievement in 2012, something we could look at for years to come and say 'we won that!' But what?

For a year or so after our main shed was built, we had a large black and white Kernow flag fluttering way above the roof but we were asked to remove this along with every other flag on the site. The large one looked good against the far reaching green countryside and deep skyline from the entrance gate and we missed this so the plan is to replace with a beautiful cast iron large weathervane.

 
This will depict our favourite leisure activity(see pic),  being galvanised should stand anything the weather can throw at it for a long time and we will always be able to tell 'which way the wind blows' and remember how 'blown away' we all were to become 2012 champions of the grow your own competition for the county. (Have I mentioned this before?)

Christmas Carols?

Went into the local card shop half way through October and they were playing Christmas carols! Apart from the fact that, as far as I am concerned Christmas doesn’t begin until the 1^st December and that alone annoyed me but it reminded me of all the jobs I have to do on the allotment before the winter sets in!  

To cap it all the cheerful weatherman on the radio today said we were heading for the hardest winter for some time.....regrettably he could be right.   The Holly tree, just past my house, is absolutely loaded with berries and there is a plentiful supply of hawthorn too and more convincing than all of that - my arthritis is playing up!  

The under gardener says it is all rubbish but I still maintain that when the cows lay down it’s going to rain.   Mind you we could do with a few good frosts to kill off some of the wee bugs and beasties in the soil.   Maybe it would teach my raspberries what time of year it is as the summer raspberries have only just stopped flowering and fruiting, there were a couple of rogue autumn  canes in the batch I bought last year, most disappointing as you would think that the nurseries, being the experts, would get it right wouldn’t you?  I did buy them from foreign parts though (Wiltshire) maybe I should stick to Cornish nurseries!

I really shouldn’t be moaning as Mike commented in his blog we won the Best Grow Your Own group for Cornwall In Bloom!   What an amazing feat for us as we haven’t been up and running all that long. A lot of the credit is due to Mike whose enthusiasm keeps us all going when the weather wants to knock us back.   Thanks Mike.

Need to get up the plot tomorrow, weather permitting, got the autumn raspberries to prune and mulch and the apple/soft fruit bed to weed and mulch too.   I also need to bring back home the runnerbean wigwam for running repairs, think it worked well again this year but I really must make more effort to trim the tips of the plants.   They always run away from me and grow so tall I need a step ladder to reach them.   Fred recommended Scarlet Empire as they are stringless, I usually stick to Painted lady but think I’ll give them a try next spring. 

Looking back on the year, despite the appalling weather at times, I had more successes than failures on the plot.   Beetroot was a disaster, celeriac only fit for the compost but the French beans did me proud and something I’ll be doing more of next year.   Poached egg plants looked amazing at times – shame you can’t eat them though unless anyone has a recipe for them?  

Nothing to do with the plot but though I’d show you a picture of the new additions to our family....aren't they lovely and they lay brown eggs! 

Dirty Gertie, Mad Martha, Big Bertha and Ruby.